There are a number of tropical plants that produce fruit or other useful foodstuffs. These types of plants are popular for harvesting, and thus cultivation of such plants is common. However, with the exception of the fruit itself, the majority of the material associated with harvesting the fruit of these plants is generally considered to be waste material. Accordingly, the fibrous stalks of such plants are often disposed of in landfills or in other manners that are either not beneficial for the environment or, in some cases, may actually harm the environment. Although some of the discarded plant matter may be used as natural fertilizer, there may be still more uses for the fibrous stalks of some such plants.
Banana stalks are one example of a tropical plant that has a fibrous stalk that is often wasted. In this regard, the banana stalk dies after the fruit is produced and harvested, and it is common for the stalks, which are typically cut off to harvest the bananas, to be thrown away. These fibrous stalks of the banana tree and some other tropical plants can have as much as 93% to 96% of their weight comprised of water and natural latex content that may include a variety of resinous and gummy substances. Accordingly, in order to produce workable or useable fibers, the fibrous material must be cleaned and processed. In particular, much of the fluid within the stalks must be removed, and the latex or other natural resinous substances must also be extracted or washed out.
There have been a number of different processing methods developed for processing fibers. These processing methods take different amounts of energy, and have different advantages and disadvantages dependent upon the desired properties of the processed fiber that is expected to be achieved. Thus, it should be appreciated that it may be desirable to develop a processing technique that is optimized for generation of useful fibers with specific absorptive properties related to hydrocarbon absorption.